Life After Living
by It's Just That
Summary: Sasori was not killed in the battle with Sakura and Chiyo. He was, however, temporarily defeated…SASODEI.
1. Prologue: Physical Death

**DISCLAIM IT**: Puh-lease. Does it look like I own it?

**AN: **I got tired of reading Harry Potter fanfics and decided to continue my OTP pairing for Naruto: SasoDei. I am extremely **disappointed** with how the anime is going downhill (at least, in my opinion it is) so this will be AU from the time of Sasori's death (FUCK YOU SAKURA FOR KILLING HIM AND FUCK YOU KANKURO FOR TAKING HIS BODY!) to whatever, okay? I want a happy story, with a bitter ending. I promise I'll finish this because it's summer. +_+

**Summary**: Sasori was not killed in the battle with Sakura and Chiyo. He was, however, temporarily defeated…

**Pairing: **SasoDei

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><p><strong>PROLOGUE<strong>: Physical death

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><p><em>Death is so tedious<em>.

Sasori's soul floated around in nothingness—for how long? He didn't know. Nevertheless from what he could tell, he would be here for quite a while. It was thus a perfect opportunity for some serious introspection.

What was life to him, now that he was—well, dead?

Sasori didn't know. He was just waiting for the time his body healed completely and he was out of here—wherever here was. In fact, it was disconcerting to think that his physical carapace was out there, lying open in the cave, with nothing but the puppets of his dead parents surrounding him.

Even his demise had been pathetic to say the least: being defeated by a _female _who apparently had to have help from his dearly beloved _Chiyo-baa_. He was ashamed. But he had accomplished many things in his past life and therefore had nothing to regret. When he woke up from this purgatory, however…

He would get his revenge.

But that would come later.

He had to rebuild his puppet army—and especially repair Hiruko and the Third Kazekage. They were his masterpieces and only needed a few improvements to make up for their weaknesses, though he knew that there weren't many. He made sure of it due to his perfectionist nature.

But what about the Akatsuki?

Sasori contemplated what to do.

Would he go back to them? Would they even allow it? Frankly, Sasori didn't give two shits if they didn't. He was through being part of the 'greater good of the world'. Fighting for world peace and domination was ridiculous because what good did that get them? A picture in the Bingo book and a lot of nations not giving a damn about it.

It wasn't like he was being ungrateful or anything. He owed most of his seal-techniques from the innumerable scrolls from Pein and at the rather large collection of rare, stolen scrolls from the Akatsuki library.

He just didn't want to be a ninja anymore.

He _could_ continue his life as a Master Puppeteer though.

That thought gave him a surge of satisfaction and he knew that it wouldn't be terribly hard to do. It was something he had thought of being all of his life—without the Shinobi part, that is.

Being a regular civilian would probably be the best thing that ever happened to him!

…Oh, who was he joking?

He loved his art and he loved the violence and bloodshed. Deidara would've been laughing his ass off at what Sasori had thought a few seconds ago. Hell, Sasori would've laughed too, if he had a mouth. Or emotions.

And contrary to popular belief, although he believed human emotions to be beyond him, Sasori had a certain fondness for his talented, but hot-headed partner.

Deidara was the favourite of everyone in the Akatsuki (Itachi was obviously excluded from this, yet that was obvious). The irritating blond had somehow managed to worm his way through each and every members' carefully guarded exteriors. He had situated himself in whatever was leftover of their hearts, in some way so that any of the Akatsuki would say, without a certain degree of their usual exasperation, that they liked him. As in genuinely liked him.

For a fearsome group of hardened s-class missing nins, finding someone you genuinely held affection for was a rarity.

Truthfully, from the beginning of his lonely and miserable life, Sasori only had three things he cherished: his art, himself, and his love for art. No one, perhaps except his Chiyo-baa, had ever made that list.

Deidara though…he had worked with that brat for about five years, and in those five years—if he had to be honest—he was the happiest he had ever been.

Sasori mentally sighed.

Here he was, being all sappy. What would Deidara think?

He then mentally slapped himself. Who the hell cared what the brat thought? He could be sappy when he wanted to be! He didn't need to keep _caring _about the idiot!

Sasori mentally sighed once more and resigned himself to what seemed like an eternity in purgatory.

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>**I already have a few chapters written down. I just want to know your opinion of how the story sounds so far. :]**


	2. Chapter One: To Be Human

**DISCLAIMER**: I don't own it. +_+

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><p><strong>Chapter One: To Be Human<br>**

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><p>Air pushed into his lungs and with one, gasping breath, Sasori <em>breathed <em>again. Slate grey eyes popping open and chest heaving, Sasori sat straight up, body shaking. He placed one, trembling hand to his face and shuddered.

What just happened?

He looked around, seeing most of his puppets, lying useless next to him, their dead, lifeless eyes a soothing (though somewhat eerie) comfort to Sasori.

Suddenly, a pain developed behind his eyes and the redhead hissed, clutching his head. Memories of his 'demise' rushed through his brain and he growled, slamming a fist into the stone beneath him. It cracked and sure enough, a sizeable indent was left as Sasori withdrew his hand, seething.

Sasori knew he was lucky to have the hindsight to 'fake' his death. It was an opportunity he couldn't allow to go to waste, due to the fact that he wouldn't be able to get it again. When would he ever? It had taken him months to prepare for his imminent 'death' and he had never told Deidara what his plans were. Neither did he leave any outward hint to the blond. It was perfect.

He smirked, his lips curling upwards. His ingenious scheme to use another heart canister and hide his own within a sleeper agent somewhere in the Tea country was brilliant. All he had to do was leave it inside the agent and no one would be the wiser. Perhaps Orochimaru, but hopefully, that snake-faced bastard was dead.

Speaking of heart canisters…

He looked down at the now broken container on the ground. This fake one he had made, flawless in its simplicity and what it once signified: _freedom_. He had taken this particular heart from a Kirigakure ANBU.

He fondly remembered how the man had screamed as he took a scalpel and dug it into his chest cavity. It was such a delight to turn the man into a puppet while his heart lay beating, on the nearby table next to him. Sasori had specially designed a jutsu to prevent it from decaying—a stasis jutsu, to be more precise.

He used the ANBU'S heart and performed a chakra transfer, making sure to transfer just enough chakra that it made it seem like the heart was his own. It had taken a few days for Sasori to say that the organ was fully passable before placing it into the hollow of his chest.

From then on, his plan had worked perfectly and no one was the wiser. Not even Pein.

Chuckling under his breath, Sasori stood on wobbly legs and pushed his way out of the cave, and on the way, made sure to deposit all of his puppets into scrolls. It pissed him off that he wasn't able to use Hiruko's body as a basic shield from humans, but he would somehow make do.

When he got out, Sasori was glad that it was evening. His eyes still felt much too sensitive for any sort of light. As it was, with only moonlight guiding his movements, Sasori stumbled his way to a nearby pond and splashed water on his face.

Midway through refreshing himself, Sasori had a strange urge to drink the freshwater.

So he did.

He drank so much of it his stomach hurt.

Sasori sputtered, his throat working to get the rest of the water down. He belatedly realised he hadn't felt quite the same as when he was a puppet…

Nervous (when was he ever nervous?), Sasori slid a hand down his torn robes and gazed down at the smooth, unblemished skin. Panicking, he then gazed at himself in the reflection of the pond and nearly cried out in anger.

All of his HARD. WORK.

Years of training and torturing himself just to become—

_HUMAN_ again? How was that even possible?

Sasori sneered at the possibility of him somehow becoming mortal (he would possibly have to do extensive researching to know), then sneered at his reflection.

His stone-grey eyes were teeming with life, and he actually had _colour _on his cheeks. A healthy red flush was on his 16-year old face and he nearly screamed again. Now no one would take him seriously. No one! All they would see was a pretty face and nothing else!

This time, Sasori did let out a scream, though he did it behind his hands so that it muffled the sound. And once he started, he couldn't stop. He just went on screaming and screaming until his voice was hoarse. He screamed until all of his frustration, anger—_everything _was gone. His anger was so palpable that he wanted to throw a fit of some sort, or throw something-_anything_! So he threw the giant boulder next to him into the pond. It caused a gigantic splash and water cascaded into a mini-wave, sweeping passed his knees and wetting the ground behind him.

Heaving deep breaths and feeling immensely better, Sasori eventually composed himself and sat back onto the ground, jaw clenched.

He…just hated this—hated his humanity.

In fact, he refused to be human. He refused to be treated like the delicate being that he looked like! He was better than any one of those things because he had eternity, however briefly that was. He had even gotten to taste immortality that was so sweet, he would not let go the notion of being an impeccable, _faultless _piece of art anytime soon. Why should he, when he knew so much better?

Sasori growled and sneered down at his unwavering reflection once more.

Looks like he needed to learn to live again.

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><p>It had taken him the whole night and morning to walk to a civilised part of wherever he was before passing out near an old woman. She had found him stumbling through the forest, so innocent, so <em>guileless<em>. Apparently, the distraught woman left him there for a few minutes to grab her grandson, who promptly hauled his new _human _(Sasori shuddered) body to a simple two-floored house.

When he had finally woken up, Sasori was surprised to be surrounded by two beaming and friendly faces. The old woman introduced herself as Asahi and her grandson was Satoru—they were citizens of Kirigakure, though he was technically in the land of Rivers, which was far enough away from their original country.

So, Sasori thought, as he sipped the warm broth Asahi-san gave him. He was in the Land of Rivers. It was ironic, really. One of the places that hated him more than his own nation—their denizens, helping him and nursing him back to health. Oh the irony!

He smothered his laughter into polite coughs that had the old lady fretting over him once more.

Sasori sighed at all of the attention.

To be human again. How utterly tedious.

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><p>"So, sonny, what's your name?" Asahi asked kindly, sitting on a rocking chair near him. Sasori wanted to strangle her. Instead, he gave off an extremely fake, but extremely genuine-looking smile.<p>

"It's Hisao, ma'am," he replied sweetly. It meant 'long-lived man', perfect for Sasori's fresh, new start in the world.

"Hisao, is it?" the old woman hummed thoughtfully. "How are you feeling then? Better?"

Sasori had thought up a few ways to strangle her with the scarf she was knitting, before answering, "Yes, I am. Thank you for helping me." Tcch. As if.

Asahi's eyes crinkled. "It was no problem, Hisao. My son was about your age 'fore he kicked the bucket, and you remind me of him."

Sasori had to inwardly raise an eyebrow at this.

"Why do you say that, ma'am?" he asked politely.

"Because you two share the same eyes," said Asahi wisely, pointing to his own slate-grey orbs. "You two both have eyes that show how ambitious you are. He died around your age, you know. And it was the lust for adventure that drove him so far away from his home, oh Kisame…"

Sasori started at the mention of the Akatsuki member, his slate grey eyes widening a centimetre. "What did you say your son's name was, ma'am?" he said, alarmed.

Asahi's knitting seemed to go faster. "I said, his name was Kisame," the old woman muttered.

Sasori's jaw dropped though he composed himself a second later. "Your surname wouldn't happen to be Hoshigaki, would it be, ma'am?"

The old woman took a while to answer, however she eventually said, with a solemn tone, "…It is. My son was named Kisame Hoshigaki—a failure to the family name and honour. He left the family at 16 to start his real shinobi training with the other Kiri-nins. Because of that, I have disowned him and have no other family except Satoru."

Ouch.

That statement somehow caused his stomach to twist.

Not really knowing what to say now, Sasori wisely kept his mouth shut. However, this new piece of information made his head spin. If this was Kisame's mother nursing him back to health—where the hell did Kisame get his sharky-appearance from?

Sasori chanced a glance at Asahi, then came to the conclusion that some things were better off not knowing.

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><p>It had taken him a week to fully recover. They were the longest, agonising days of his life, staying within the confines of a bed and listening to Mrs Hoshigaki ramble on and on about things. But he was the polite, teenaged boy, who made all the right inflections and smiled and simpered at her at all the right times. He loathed it.<p>

By the time the second night had passed, Sasori had devised 78 ways of killing her with her knitting needles. That was all he could do to pass the time.

Her grandson, Satoru though, oddly gave him lingering looks. Sasori had no idea what those meant but it put him on guard whenever the dark haired man was near. That was why he needed Hiruko! He growled to himself. Everyone put too much emphasis on how he looked like!

Another night passed and Satoru (or the buffoon, as Sasori dubbed him) approached. "Hisao?" shyly mumbled Satoru, a flush on his cheeks. He was holding onto a few articles of clothing and he shifted his feet from left to right. For someone apparently related to Kisame, he was an incredibly shy, and incredibly strong man (for a civilian that was). And he was also as gigantic as Kisame, but height was of no matter to Sasori. He could just make himself taller with a henge he developed to transform his body for a period of time…

"Hisao-san?"

The buffoon kept shifting his feet until Sasori focused on him.

Baffled, he tilted his head to the side. "What?" he nearly growled out. Why was Satoru acting funny? Slate eyes narrowing, Sasori impatiently waited for Satoru's answer.

"Uhmm," the man rubbed his head, "You need to change out of your old clothes and into these ones. These were my old clothes when I was younger—obaa-san said they'd prolly fit you."

Sasori's eye twitched. That was it? Staring down at himself, Sasori realised he was wearing the same bloody rags he had for however long he was actually dead. Huh. That was funny. He probably stunk too. Deciding on what he should do, Sasori mentally shrugged. It was bath time, then—no use trying to postpone the inevitable.

"Very well," he conceded, and somehow managed to stand up (with no help this time!), glide his way to Satoru, and grab the soft, cotton shorts and shirt. They were simple-looking and plain white—Sasori supposed they'd do until he got cloth to make his own clothes.

Sasori looked up at the gigantic man that had some of Kisame's features if he had been human. A long, pointed nose and dark slanted eyes. Character traits of a denizen from Kirigakure. Looming in front of him with a nervous, blush on his face, Satoru avoided eye contact.

Sasori frowned. How very strange.

"Is there anywhere I may bathe?" Sasori suddenly asked.

The flush on the buffoon's face darkened and he stuttered, "W-walk behind the house and there s-should be a hotspring. There's s-soap there already."

Sasori nodded and left the house, not noticing Satoru's speculative look.

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><p>Sasori scrubbed at his body. There was a cold river directly next to hotspring and he had dunked his entire self into before coming out of it, teeth chattering. He regretted that decision but he needed to wash off the grime and blood first, then go into the hotspring to cleanse himself.<p>

Now that he was in it though, Sasori felt his muscles relax. Leaning his spine to the edge, he sunk down into the water so only his head was visible.

He was very comfortable now.

Sighing, Sasori took in how the water felt against his _human _body. He hadn't had much time to reflect on how he became human again, but he supposed it was the sealing jutsu he used on the sleeping agent. Once his fake heart canister was destroyed, whatever was left from the ANBU's chakra mixed with his puppet body and created the outer countenance he wore now. It was like the story his Chiyo-baa told him when he was younger—of the puppet-master who created a puppet in the likeness of his son. Eventually the puppet came to life and became a real life boy due to some fancy magic. Maybe the leftover chakra from the ANBU was incompatible with his puppet body and caused his body to evolve in order to take that chakra in?

Bullshit.

When Sasori found out how he really became human, he'd kill whatever caused his mortality. After he made himself into a puppet again, that is.

Sighing to himself, Sasori dunked his head in and gently rinsed his hair. He ran a hand through it and realised that his red locks came up to his shoulders. Annoyed with how he somehow missed that detail a few days ago, Sasori made a note to ask the old hag for some shears later.

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><p>"Oh my, Hisao!" beamed Asahi, as she looked upon her work. She had agreed to cut his hair shorter in exchange for him working around the house and helping her with chores. Sasori deigned to do this and offered to make her clothes and do menial work instead.<p>

Menial work for Sasori meant: chopping wood, fishing, catching game. He used to do that for his Chiyo-baa, once upon a time…

Ecstatic, the woman agreed and that was why he was in front of the small vanity that Asahi owned, surveying his new hairstyle. She had given him layers and had cut three inches of his hair. Now it was tapered at the end of his neck and ruffled so that a few locks of his red hair fell down his cheeks and framed his face. His fringe was cut and styled diagonally so it swept past his eyebrows. All in all, she made him look even more like the doll he used to be.

Irritated, Sasori kept his voice polite but had a biting tone to it, "Have you cut hair before, ma'am?"

Asahi grinned toothily and winked. "Used to be employed for the daimyo and his family, that I was," she said proudly. "Had to make a living somehow, right?"

Sasori frowned at himself in the mirror, watching as emotions flitted through his once, expressionless visage.

To be human again was difficult, he thought morosely.

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><p>As Sasori was chopping wood, he heard two voices distinctly talking from inside the Hoshigaki residence. Curious, he approached the door and pressed his ear to it.<p>

"He smells too good," said a hissy, voice that sounded somewhat familiar. "And very tasty. May I eat him, grandmother? Please?"

"Oh, I agree with you, sonny," replied an equally hissy voice that spoke in halting syllables. "But we shan't eat him…with his pretty looks; it would be an extreme waste!"

The two voices cackled and continued talking about how to strip the meat from the bone without damaging it. That was somewhat disturbing, but nothing that Sasori wasn't used to.

Backing away from the door, Sasori frowned, then shrugged.

The hell was that?

He shrugged again and went back to his menial labour, knowing that he would have to work for his food now that he was all better.

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><p>He had stayed with Asahi Hoshigaki and Satoru for two weeks and then left, telling them he needed to go out and find his partner, Dei-chan. Sasori had smirked internally the entire time he explained to them that his <em>partner <em>was somewhere out there, all by herself and probably needed him _oh so much_.

If Deidara was here he'd probably laugh his ass off, then throw a C3 at him.

Reluctantly agreeing, the two made him promise to visit them one day. They were lonely and never went to the nearby villages if they could help it. So Sasori promised and packed a bag of clean clothes, bread and cheese for the road.

Before he left, Asahi had pressed 50,000 ryos into his hands. More than enough to last him on the road and live without a job for a few weeks. This act of generosity surprised him and he stood at the front of the forest path, gaping at her like an idiot.

"It's not much," she explained and patted his head. She was taller than him—and that was saying something. "But I hope it'll help you find your partner. We all have someone we should care for and never leave behind. I'm glad you stayed with us for so long, Hisao-san."

Sasori had flushed and cleared his throat, saying, "It was no problem, ma'am. I'm just grateful that you found me when you did." Chagrined at how he seemed to develop more and more human kindness, Sasori swiftly bade them goodbye and left.

Watching his figure disappear off the dirt pathway, Satoru turned to his grandmother and morosely said, "I liked him a lot, obaa-san. He looked so tasty."

Asahi hummed and winked at him. "That's too bad, sonny. There's plenty more travellers passing this way to eat."

Cackling to each other, the two let go of their henge and transformed into blue-skinned, shark-looking people. They looked exactly like Kisame, with three vertical gills on their faces. They even had two rows of fearsome, jagged teeth.

They turned away from the forest path and back into their home, laughing all the while.

It was a good thing they liked Sasori too much to eat him. And it was especially better that Sasori never noticed a thing.

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><p><strong>AN: I have the picture of Sasori's hair up on my profile. :3 if you want to see how he looks like now, go and look! xD Please, do leave a review and tell me if you liked the twist to the ending of this first chapter. XD<strong>


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